SOLIMAN NORTH L.G.

R.A.F. Form 441 A. SORTIE REPORT 'H' 151 (Part A.) FIRST OPERATION OF DAY.

Sheet No. 1 Oprep. Ref. No. 309 Date. 9 JUN 43 Squadron. 21 SAAF. Type of Aircraft. 12 Baltimores Captain Formation Leader Aircraft No. (8 Mk. 111 & 4 Mk. 111A) Maj. Schravesande Aircraft Letter. See reverse. Crew. Lt. Campbell (Observer) See reverse. Time Up. 0752 hrs. (1st. A/C) Time Down. 0935 hrs. (Last A/C) Aerodrome or L.G. SOLIMAN NORTH L.G. Total Time. 18 hrs. 00 mins. Type of Cloud. St.Cu. Map or Chart Amount of Cloud. 8/10 off SW coast of Island, and Reference. Base of Cloud. EAST coast of CAP BON. 1000 ft. FRENCH NORTH AFRICA Visibility. Good. 1:500,000 TUNIS General Weather. Good. (Sheet NJ.32.SE) PANTELLERIA 1:25,000 & Substitute Map 1A. Task or Duty. Medium level bombing attack on battery position No. 17 PANTELLERIA ISLAND. Time Height. Place. Narrative. Base Airborne. Circling.

1500 " S/C RAS EL FORTASS.

2000 FORTASS Picked up fighter escort & S/C KELIBIA 100 deg. (6 P40's 33rd. Bomber Escort)

4500 KELIBIA S/C Target 095 deg. M.

8700 TARGET Bombed from 8000 ft. on course of 160 deg. Left hand turn off.

7500 off " S/C 275 deg. for point 5 miles NORTH KELIBIA losing height down to 1000 ft.

1500 N.KELIBIA S/C 270 deg. across peninsula.

BASE Last A/C landed.

PART B (on reverse) to be completed according to relevant pro-forma in H.Q. R.A.F. M.E. Instruction 34. PMEJ - 200,000 - 3/42 P.T.O. Part "B"

BA Battery position PANTELLERIA ISLAND (No. 17) BB 0844 hrs. L.T. BC Medium level bombing attack from 8000 ft. Course 155 - 160 deg. 22 x 500 G.P. ) 8 x 500 S.A.P.) Tail fused. Pistol No. 28. Det. 49. 18 x 500 M.C. ) BD Formation attacked in two boxes of six in line astern on individual box leaders. Bombs of the first box fell in the sea in line with the coast from pp. F 226049. No. 2 box straddled the target with one stick, scoring near misses on the buildings and gun positions. The rest of the bombs burst to the EAST of the positions towards F 225046. BE Fair number of HAA guns firing, but bursts were at 5/6000 ft. and behind formation. BF Nil. BG Obliques and Verticals taken. Speed 210 IAS. Course 155 deg. BH Two arrows on PANTELLERIA L.G. pointing NORTH and SOUTH. These appeared to point out what looked like a serviceable runway. Fire on Mt. GRANDE. Four fairly large unidentified ships at UP 8468 at 0806 hrs. List of A/C and Crews:

F/L 142 P Maj. Schravesande, Lt. Campbell, F/Sgts. Meyer & Stopforth. 957 W Lt. Wood, Lt. Gould, F/Sgts. Purdon & Groenewald. 368 X Lt. Clutterbuck, Lt. v.d. Meulen, F/Sgts. Raeburn & Carbarns. V/L 167 S Capt. Smit, Lt. Kay, F/Sgts. Toms & Wright. 916 R Lt. Simpson, Lt. Handley, F/Sgts. Roberts V.P. & Shepperson. 221 Y Lt. Eaton, Lt. McDermot, Sgt. Freestone (RNZAF) & F/Sgt. Gilder (RAF) B/L 345 E Capt. McBride, Lt. Pickerill, F/Sgts. Daniels & White. 977 L Lt. Meredith, Lt. Herring, F/Sgt. Smith S.C. & F/Sgt. Prout(RAF 290 C Lt. Blieden, Lt. Rose, F/Sgts. Jarvis & Perkins. V/L 930 K Lt. Hamilton, Lt. Whittle, F/Sgts. van Rooyen & Phelan. 352 D Lt. Dugmore, Lt. Masters, F/Sgts. Maasdorp & Rogers. C.L. 271 F Lt. Guard, Lt. Forssman, F/Sgts. Green & de Villiers. F/L Formation Leader. B/L Box Leader. V/L Vic Leader.

[Signature] ....................Capt. S.I.O. 21 SQUADRON, S.A.A.F.

1943-06-09 SOLIMAN NORTH L.G.

R.A.F. Form 441 A. SORTIE REPORT 'H' 151 (Part A.) FIRST OPERATION OF DAY. Sheet No. 1 Oprep. Ref. No. 309 Date. 9 JUN 43 Squadron. 21 SAAF. Type of Aircraft. 12 Baltimores Captain Formation Leader Aircraft No. (8 Mk. 111 & 4 Mk. 111A) …

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Form 541

MAP

Transcriber's Notes

Phase 2: Technical Expansion Glossary of Terms The document utilizes standard Commonwealth military abbreviations to record flight parameters. The form is an R.A.F., or Royal Air Force, Form 441 A., utilized by 21 SAAF, representing the South African Air Force. The handwritten notation 'H' 151 serves as an archival sequence index, while the annotation "FIRST OPERATION OF DAY." explicitly establishes the sortie's chronological position within the daily operational tempo. The abbreviation Oprep. Ref. No. denotes the Operational Report Reference Number. The strike aircraft are Baltimores, indicating the Martin Baltimore medium bomber , with the clerical typing Mk. 111 and Mk. 111A representing the Mark III and Mark IIIA variants. Officer ranks are abbreviated as Maj. for Major and Lt. for Lieutenant. The abbreviation A/C stands for Aircraft, and L.G. designates a Landing Ground, specifically identifying SOLIMAN NORTH L.G. on the Cap Bon peninsula. Meteorological data logs St.Cu. for Stratocumulus clouds and SW for South West. Navigational shorthand features S/C for Set Course and M. for Magnetic heading. The escorting fighters are recorded as P40's, referring to the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk . The footer references H.Q. R.A.F. M.E., expanding to Headquarters Royal Air Force Middle East, and P.T.O., instructing the reader to Please Turn Over. Operational Context This Sortie Report documents the primary morning bombardment mission executed by 21 Squadron SAAF on June 9, 1943, during the culminating phases of Operation Corkscrew. Operating from Soliman North Landing Ground, the formation of twelve Martin Baltimore bombers, commanded by Major Schravesande, was directed against the coastal defense network designated as battery position No. 17 on the fortified Italian island of Pantelleria . The tactical flight narrative meticulously logs the complex airspace management required for daylight medium bomber penetrations over the Mediterranean. After becoming airborne at 0752 hours and circling to consolidate the formation, the strike package navigated to Ras el Fortass at an altitude of 2,000 feet to link up with a fighter escort consisting of six Curtiss P-40 Warhawks drawn from the 33rd Bomber Escort. The integrated formation then proceeded over Kelibia toward the target, ascending to 8,700 feet. The actual bombing run was executed from an altitude of 8,000 feet on a 160-degree heading before making an immediate left-hand evasive turn off the target to mitigate anti-aircraft exposure. The prescribed egress route was carefully structured to safely return the bombers across the Cap Bon peninsula, actively losing altitude from 7,500 down to 1,000 feet to pass beneath the established 1,000-foot stratocumulus cloud base, subsequently recovering all aircraft at 0935 hours and accumulating eighteen total flight hours for the squadron. 197 Phase 1: Verification & Extraction Identity Check There is no explicitly printed date in a designated 'Date' column on this specific continuation sheet. However, the chronological entry under section BB logs the time as 0844 hrs. L.T., which corresponds to the morning sortie referenced in the preceding documentation. Phase 2: Technical Expansion Glossary of Terms The document utilizes standard Commonwealth operational abbreviations to categorize the tactical data. The abbreviation L.T. stands for Local Time, establishing the chronological baseline of the strike at 0844 hours. The ordnance loadouts are specified as G.P. for General Purpose, S.A.P. for Semi-Armour Piercing, and M.C. for Medium Capacity munitions. These specific weapons were configured with a Det. 49, representing Detonator 49, and a Pistol No. 28, which was a specialized aerial bomb tail fuze utilized to ensure structural penetration prior to detonation. The term HAA denotes Heavy Anti-Aircraft artillery fire. Photographic reconnaissance metrics are identified by Obliques and Verticals, referring to the mounting angles of the strike cameras, executed at an IAS, or Indicated Air Speed, of 210 knots. The abbreviation L.G. signifies a Landing Ground, identifying an austere airfield structure. A/C serves as the standard nomenclature for Aircraft. The crew manifest formally documents the integration of multinational personnel within the bomber elements, utilizing RNZAF for the Royal New Zealand Air Force and RAF for the Royal Air Force. Tactical flight formations are delineated by F/L for Formation Leader, B/L for Box Leader, and V/L for Vic Leader, the latter designating the commander of a standard three-aircraft "V" shaped element . Military ranks are abbreviated as Maj. for Major, Capt. for Captain, Lt. for Lieutenant, F/Sgts. for Flight Sergeants, and Sgt. for Sergeant. The document's authentication is provided by the S.I.O., or Squadron Intelligence Officer, representing the S.A.A.F., standing for the South African Air Force. Operational Context This archival continuation sheet outlines the specific tactical execution of a medium-level bombardment mission over Pantelleria Island, functioning as a primary component of Operation Corkscrew . The strategic objective of this sustained aerial campaign was the absolute degradation of the island's coastal artillery networks, which physically menaced the maritime corridors required for the impending Allied amphibious invasion of Sicily. The designated target, Battery position No. 17, was engaged from an altitude of 8,000 feet utilizing a formation geometry of two six-aircraft boxes arranged in line astern. The execution of the bombing run demonstrated the inherent complexities of precision daylight bombardment against coastal targets. The initial box failed to effectively acquire the target, resulting in their ordnance falling into the sea parallel to the coastline starting from grid coordinate F 226049. The trailing secondary box achieved a more accurate delivery, successfully straddling the battery with a concentrated stick of delayed-fuze munitions, scoring near misses on the gun emplacements and associated structures before the pattern drifted eastward toward coordinate F 225046. The Axis defensive response over the target area consisted of a fair volume of heavy anti-aircraft artillery; however, the barrage was highly inaccurate, with flak bursting between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, safely below and behind the bomber formation's established altitude. In addition to the primary bombardment data, the aircrews gathered critical secondary intelligence. The crews observed ground indicators, specifically two arrows pointing north and south on the Pantelleria Landing Ground, which identified a serviceable runway amidst the cratered airfield infrastructure. Furthermore, the crews reported an active fire on Mount Grande and logged the presence of four large, unidentified maritime vessels at grid coordinate UP 8468 earlier in the sortie, providing theater commanders with vital situational awareness regarding Axis maritime movements within the Strait of Sicily. 198 Phase 1: Verification & Extraction Identity Check The exact date found in the 'Date' column of the image is 9 JUN 43.